Removable button mounting



June 30, 1959 V w. LLOYD 2,892,229'

REMOVABLE BUTTON MOUNTING Filed Aug. 23, 1955 In en for William Zloyd tzorieey United States Patent "ice REMOVABLE BUTTON MOUNTING William L. Lloyd, Prospect Heights, 111. Application August 23, 1955, Serial No. 530,115

' A 2 Claims. (Cl. 24-108) The present invention relates generally to fasteners and the like, and in particular to securing means for removably mounting buttons on garments.

Butto'ns' of functional or ornamental character on garments'are'frequently removed to protect them against loss or damage in cleaning or laundering. Especially. for

ornamental buttons a whole set may need replacement when one is lost or damaged. By means of the present invention buttons of ordinary or special character are provided with one of two complementary parts of which the other 1pm may be permanently secured to a garment. The two "parts are easilyeng'aged and disengaged. This makes it very easy to remove and to replace buttons or to substitute a new set of decorative buttons. For example, it permits one readily to change a set of buttons of one color to another color for color-matching items.

It is therefore the general object of the present invention to provide a button-mounting unit for attachment to a garment of a character that resists the heat of steaming or ironing or dry cleaning or laundering.

It is also an object to provide a button-carrying part which is complementary to said mounting part for easily connecting and disconnecting the two parts.

It is a further object of the invention so to relate the complementary parts that pull on the button tends to tighten and lock the parts together.

Various other and ancillary objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description and explanation of the invention in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the receiving part.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 showing the insert mounted in the receiver.

In the drawings the numeral indicates a button to which is secured by cement or other means not important to the invention, a disk 11 having a projecting stem 12 preferably cylindrical, which [terminates in an enlarged head 13. The head in cross-section appears like an arrowhead, as a result of which it is termed herein a peripheral barb 14. The stem 12 is adapted to fit in an opening of such size that the head 13 prevents its withdrawal and of such size that the head may not enter. Accordingly, the opening for such use is formed in two edges 16 and 17 of two complementary sections 18 and 19, which edges are normally together and form a receiver top, and which sections are subject to resilient separation. The two sections 18 and 19 are each secured by a resilient but flexible upright member to a base 20 which is shown as having holes 21 therein for sewing it to a garment. The sections 18 and 19 are shown as flat pieces of which the edges 16 and 17 in normal contacting position are alined with the diameter of a circular opening 22 to receive stem 12. In Fig. 2 opening 22 is shown with a peripheral lip 23 projecting from the inner faces 24 of the sections 18 and 19 so as to form in crosssection a tapered rim 25 so formed as to nest within the peripheral barb 14. Thus, pull on the stem 12 2,892,229 Patented June 30,- 1959 tending to remove it from opening 22 pulls the parts 18 and 19 together against separation.

The upright members connecting base 20 with the parts 18 and 19 may vary widely in construction. Each is resiliently flexible at one region at least so that force may be applied to bend each upright and cause the parts 18 and 19 to separate, thereby to open the opening 22 for receiving the stem 12. The resilient character of these upright connections permits release of the applied spreadingforce to return the parts to their normal positionof contact to close the opening 22. The choice of material for the upright connections to some extent predetermines the structural form thereof. Metal, for example, should flex over a wide planar area to avoid fatigue which leads to breaking after numerous bendings. Certain plastics have in varying degrees the property of resilient return to a normal status after deformation and are far more stable and permanent than metal where flexing is involved. Where such plastic material is employed for the present invention, it may be chosen to withstand dry cleaning,

. laundering and heating.

The structure illustrated in Fig. 1 is one for which a polyethylene plastic is highly suitable, but it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to polyethylene; or to plastics orto any other particular material, and also that the structure specifically described for polyethylene may be modified to suit other material. In general, the receiving part illustrated resembles a modified hat with a pyramidal crown having two opposed open sides, and a fiat top. The disk 20 corresponds to the rim. The upright members 27 and 28 connect the top sections 18 and 19 respectively to the base, the space between being open except at the base 20. Comparable to the location of a hat band, there are low webs 29 and 30 preferably of plastic integral with the disk 20 and with the members 27 and 28, thus to rigidify the base 20 against its flexing opening the top. Within the crown, the disk 20 may be open, but no important advantage results and it may be closed without great disadvantage.

The flexing of the members 27 and 28 is relied upon to open the top, and the members 27 and 28 are constructed with a planar section of uniform thickness intermediate the top and the base, at which region it is preferred that the flexing occur. Accordingly, the base-ends of the uprights are made rigid with the base 20 by the integral connection with the base-rigidifying webs 29 and 30. The top sections 18 and 19 are preferably made rigid with their respective uprights by the integral fillets designated 31.

As shown both uprights are planar from the base to the top, except for the fillet 31. As a consequence, the junction 32 with the top section 18 is a straight line, and the junction 33 with the base is a straight line. However, either one or both of the lines 32 and 33 may be other than straight, for example, concentric with opening 22, for convenience in molding or for artistic reasons. When such is the case the upright members 27 and 28 should be provided with a flexing planar section intermediate the top and the base. However, it is preferred that the planar section extend from both the top and the base.

As shown the depth of the fillet 31 and the height of the webs 29 and 30, when integral with the upright members, limits the extent of the illustrated planar section which is subject to flexing. The resilient character of the material is one factor regulating the extent of the flexing section, and by changing the fillets and the webs, the material may be accommodated.

The form shown is one which can be integrally molded of plastic without great expense to form molds. However, it is not to 'be considered as a limitation of the invention short of its scope as expressed in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A fastener comprising a receiver and an insert member therefor, the insert member comprising a stem to enter the receiver, and an enlarged retaining head at the end of said stem, the receiver comprising a flexible base portion adapted to be and to remain secured to an article on the face thereof which is to carry the insert member, two spaced resilient opposed panel-form members projecting from the base portion, spaced parallel rigidifying ribs for the flexible base portion, each rib having a longitudinal edge integral with said base portion and its ends integral with the lowermost side edges of the panel-form members, said panel-form members being flexible and thereby adapted to be spread apart from normal position by application of force and to return to the normal position upon removal of said force, said members carrying separable complementary sections with meeting edges which form a receiving platform top when in contact at said normal position, said top having an opening therein of size substantially the same as the cross-section of the stem, said opening being divided by the meeting edges of said complementary portions, whereby spreading said members permits insertion of the headed stem in said opened opening and return of said members confines the stem by retaining said head.

2. A fastener comprising a receiver and an insert member therefor, the insert member comprising a stem to enter the receiver, and an enlarged retaining head at the end of said stern, said receiver comprising a frustopyramidal structure defined by parallel plane bases and by four side planes, two opposite side planes being flexible resilient panels and the other two side planes being open except for reinforcing rib-like portions extending upwardly from the larger base and being integral with said resilient panels, said larger base being closed by a flexible panel-form material integral with said panels and rib-like portions and extending in a plane beyond the four pyramid sides, the smaller base being a flat platform of panelforrn material in two equal-sized sections meeting edge-toedge in a straight line through the axis of the pyramid, each section being integral with a panel-form side wall, said platform having a hole centered at the axis of the pyramid and bisected by said meeting edges and of size to receive said stem.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 103,571 Collins May 31, 1870 303,731 Heller Aug. 19, 1884 1,774,134 Dwyer Aug. 26, 1930 1,823,229 Balbaud Sept. 15, 1931 2,129,356 Kelly Sept. 6, 1938 2,538,396 Sutin Ian. 16, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 2,367 Sweden Sept. 20, 1890 7,663 Great Britain of 1910 786,222 France June 3, 1935 

